The people of Gibeon acted very shrewdly in their dealings with the people of Israel. They pretend to have come from a land far away, therefore they were deceiving the Israelites into thinking they were not one of the local godless nations that they were commanded to wipe. They go the whole way in their clothes and provisions to deceive the Israelites (v4-5; 12-13).

This story has strong parallels with the parable of the shrewd manager that Jesus told (Luke 16 v1-8). In both cases we see great cunning and effort in order to protect their future. This surely speaks of how we need to be equally determined to make every provision we can for our future, and especially for our eternal future. Are you doing this?

For the Israelites, they big mistake was to enter into an agreement with a pagan people without seeking the will of the Lord (v14-15). What they were doing seemed wise and shrewd in their own eyes but it was not God’s will. We need to realise that regularly, we will see things we can do that seem clever and shrewd, but these things are not God’s will for us.

The reasons these nations by God’s commands were to wiped out was out of judgment on them for their sin, and to stop them being a snare to God’s people in the future. By doing what was ‘wise’ in their own eyes God’s people were resisting God’s will and creating a future snare for themselves.